Pride Foundation

Obama Announces Support for Marriage Equality

Building on momentum felt across the country, President Obama announced today that he now supports marriage for loving and committed same-sex couples – taking an important step in his personal “evolution” on the issue and reversing his longstanding opposition. He is the first sitting U.S. President to state his support for marriage equality.

Pride Foundation applauds his historic decision to announce his support of marriage equality. At a time when anti-gay measures are being passed throughout country, including yesterday’s Amendment One vote in North Carolina, Mr. Obama’s announcement makes a clear statement that Americans should fully acknowledge and embrace our LGBTQ citizens.

Obama now leads the growing chorus of supporters in his administration – joining the majority of Americans that believe that everyone should be able to express their commitment to the person they love through marriage. A Gallup poll released yesterday found that half of Americans believe same-sex couples should have the same right to wed as heterosexuals do.

As Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington State spend the next six months defending marriage equality bills, our hope is that you will join Pride Foundation and President Obama in publicly supporting marriage equality. Show your support today by volunteering or donating with the Washington United for Marriage Campaign.

Watch: Obama tells ABC interviewer he supports gay marriage.

BREAKING: What N.C.’s Amendment One Means to Marriage in Washington State

While conversations are taking place all over the nation about why marriage matters to same-sex couples and their families, North Carolina’s legislature forced a vote today on an amendment that cuts short those important conversations. Today’s vote on Amendment One bars same-sex couples from any meaningful form of protection for their families whatsoever.

It is a step backwards for LGBTQ equality.

Along with the recent loss of Anchorage, Alaska’s Proposition 5 measure to include sexual orientation and gender identity in its municipal anti-discrimination code, the vote in North Carolina is profoundly disappointing.

In Washington State, where opponents of the state’s marriage equality bill will likely force a referendum, we must reverse this trend together. Even as we see public support for marriage equality reach historic highs – particularly with young people – opponents of marriage equality will continue a campaign of misinformation and fear-mongering.

Though history will certainly be on the side of LGBTQ equality, ensuring that loving and committed same-sex couples have the opportunity to strengthen their families today will require all of us to contribute. It will require all of us to take action. It will require us to support the Washington United for Marriage Campaign with time and money.

This November, Washingtonians can make history by being the first state in the nation to publicly vote for marriage equality. We have the opportunity to take a big step forward – so long as we work for LGBTQ equality together.

Kris Hermanns is Executive Director of Pride Foundation. Pride Foundation is a proud member of the Washington United for Marriage Campaign. Visit www.washingtonunitedformarriage.org to volunteer, donate, and sign-up for regular updates. 

Our Rights Put on Hold in Anchorage

On Tuesday, LGBTQ equality was placed on hold.

April 3, Election Day in Anchorage, Alaska – people voted on a ballot measure that would have added core protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity to the Anchorage Municipal Code. Though the voting process was fraught with irregularities, with more than 90% of the vote counted, news agencies report that 58% voters have voted against Proposition 5. Currently, LGBTQ Alaskans live without any safety in employment, financial practices, housing, restaurants, department stores, and other businesses.

Questions remain about the validity of day-of voter registrations and several precincts running out of ballots. Regardless of the outcome, it is important to highlight the incredible people of Anchorage who worked so hard to bring full equality and recognition to LGBTQ people in Anchorage.

One Anchorage – the coalition working in support of the measure – was led by former Democratic Governor, Tony Knowles, and former Republican State Senator, Arliss Sturgulewski. Their office released the following statement:

Since the beginning of One Anchorage, we have been on the right side of history.  While the vote totals released to date indicate that Prop 5 did not receive sufficient votes to become law, we know our long-term journey towards full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Alaskans will one day – and soon – become a reality. We see a growing number of Alaskans, who, like us, believe everyone in Anchorage should be treated the same no matter who you are.  It won’t be long before our gay friends and neighbors have the exact same legal protections as all others in our community.

We await final results from the Municipal Clerk and we understand that there are thousands of ballots that have not yet even been counted, and additionally that Anchorage voters have expressed concerns with the conduct of the election. We fully expect that the Clerk’s Office will continue to share information with the public as it become available, and our campaign will continue to monitor the process until every vote has been counted and all concerns have been addressed.

Yes on 5, One Anchorage extends our deepest appreciation to the many dedicated volunteers and donors across Alaska who poured their hearts and souls into this unprecedented grassroots effort. We remain proud of their tireless work and we would not have come so far without them. They are the heroes of our community. The foundation we laid with them over the past year will serve as the basis of future victories for equality.

Pride Foundation echoes the gratitude for the community support and volunteer effort. On election day alone, more than 45,000 reminder calls were made by community members. “The passion and commitment of the volunteers – gay and straight – has been inspirational,” said Doug Exworthy, Pride Foundation’s Board President, who came from Seattle to help and participate.

As we move forward, know we are all in this together. We will continue this fight for equality until the headline reads: “Anchorage Wins Historic Vote!”

Kris Hermann’s is Pride Foundation’s Executive Director. Email Kris.

BREAKING: Lucky #7 – Washington Marriage Equality Bill Signed

Montana Road Trip!

Supporter Kathy Cooney is joined by Kris and Caitlin

Just weeks into her position as the new Executive Director of Pride Foundation, Kris Hermanns takes her first official road trip to visit supporters and grantees in Montana.

My time in Montana made it vividly clear to me why I choose to do this work. It also reaffirmed for me why Pride Foundation is committed to being on the ground in each state, inspiring and joining with community partners and leaders, donors, funders, and volunteers across the Northwest, in places where equality and fairness for LGBTQ people and families may be least expected or hardest to find. The possibility of making a profound and permanent difference in the daily lives of LGBTQ people drives me, and drives us all here at Pride Foundation forward.

My first night in Montana I met a girl named Casey (a pseudonym to protect her privacy). She is twelve years old and lives with her family in rural Montana. She is a lot like other girls her age, wearing the latest fashion and even a little bit of makeup. Unlike other twelve-year-old girls, though, I was struck by how very well-spoken and self-assured she is for her age. She impressed me right away.

Kris joins Montana's Leadership Action Team members

Casey and her father, younger pony-tailed sister, and grandmother read about Pride Foundation in a local newspaper article ahead of my visit, and made a point to travel into town to attend. Three generations of family looking to connect with a community that would understand what they were going through and that could help them support their child would be moving anywhere, but in Missoula, Montana, it was profound. They didn’t know where else to turn.

Because you see, Casey was born a boy. For most of her life she has known she’s a girl, and has made her true gender very clear to her family. They love Casey and support her no matter what, because she is their child. But Casey has been having a hard time in school. She is relentlessly taunted and teased. Casey is battling for her safety every day. That’s why they came to meet us—to connect with Pride Foundation and our network of resources that are very much needed—especially in places in the Northwest where they are few and far between.

I’ve met twelve-year old kids like Casey before and I know that they are about fitting in and figuring out who they are in the world. It’s a horribly rough age for anyone. To have such a clear sense of self at that age, and to go against everything everyone has ever told you because you know that the truth you hear inside you is what is right is beyond brave. Whenever I meet kids like Casey, I always feel invigorated and recommitted to changing the world faster, for them.

That feeling was magnified on every stop of my first trip outside Seattle as executive director at Pride Foundation. I was inspired by everyone I met along the way in Missoula, Bozeman, Billings, and Red Lodge. I have carried home with me the depth of the stories shared. Stories of hope, need, hurt, and—most especially and importantly—of courage.

Community Leadership (L-R): Mary Stranahan, Jason FauntLeRoy, Corby Skinner and Cole Earley at Red Lodge Montana.

My story about Casey doesn’t end with just meeting her. The night I met Casey and her family, we were able to introduce them to a local grantee organization, NCBI Missoula that runs Respect Clubs in Missoula public schools for LGBTQ middle school kids and Youth Forward, an after school queer youth group. Casey and her family never imagined that there would be a local group like that to support them through this difficult time.

And to be honest, I had been at a loss, not knowing there would be something out there for a rural family in Montana with a transgender daughter. But with the help of Pride Foundation, there is. It’s incredible to think what else we can imagine together, from Missoula, MT to Sandpoint, ID to Mercer Island, WA to McMinnville, OR to Bethel, AK. Suffice it to say, it has been four weeks that I’ve been on the job, and I am so honored to be doing this work.

I am so looking forward to my next trip already—Caitlin promises warmer weather and golfing on Flathead Lake.

I want to be sure to thank all the lovely and wonderful people who made my tour of Montana so smooth and such a delight: our hosts for our Missoula events, Jim Royan and Kim Edwards, Suzie Reahard, Ray Davis, Mark Heyka, and John Keegan and Tony Cesare; our Bozeman hosts and volunteers Greg Smith and Tom Marsh; and our Red Lodge event hosts Aaron Kampfe and David Heinzen, who generously opened their home for our first house party in Carbon County. I appreciated meeting the Leadership Action Team volunteers and the lovely (and deeply discounted) retreat setting at the Medicine Flower Lodge. See photo albums from Kris’ Montana road trip on Facebook.